"Silence, Prayer, Poustinia": A Video

"The Christian life is a real struggle...it's actually a blood and guts battle, especially an interior battle with the reality of sin and temptation that we deal with in our lives every day" (Mother Theodora).

We hope you are inspired by this 17-minute video, produced for our recent Bridegroom's Banquet, in which we share some wisdom that we have learned about silence and prayer. We and a couple of poustinia guests also share some experiences of our time in the poustinia (literally "desert," but referring to our retreat house used for silent retreats). We hope that our video helps you to understand the importance of silence and daily prayer, and perhaps plants a seed for a future retreat! Some of the funds raised at the Bridegroom's Banquet will help us to renovate our remaining empty buildings into additional retreat space, so that more people will be able to take time to be alone with Jesus, the Bridegroom of our souls.

The video was filmed and edited by Bowling Green University film student David Bratnick, parishioner of our Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.